Triple Dragons
by fleflefle
Summary: In a dystopian Fiore, ravaged by internal war, mages and magical guilds are seen as military forces. The Fairy Tail guild stands at the top of this distorted magical society, but in order to join, one must first graduate from the Fairy Tail Mage's Academy. NaLu, OC/OC, maybe some GaLe and Gruvia mixed in. Chapter 5 updated
1. Prologue

Author's Note

First off, thanks for taking the time to look at my fic.

For readers of my previous Fairy Tail fanfic, "The Dragon Twins", I apologize for deleting it. I abandoned that story in lieu of this one. I may return to it eventually, but I doubt it.

This is not an angst-fic. Yes, there are some angsty elements to the story, but that will not be the general tone.

There will be OCs in this fic, obviously.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

Please enjoy and review.

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The year was X778, almost one year after the dragons mysteriously disappeared and were labeled as "fairy tale" creatures. One year was all it took for the government of Fiore to collapse and Civil War to break out. Was it because of the disappearance of dragons? No one knows, though it is not a popular theory. Dragons were an extreme rarity even before their disappearance so even then many believed dragons to be a myth.

Now, in the year X784, six years after the collapse of Fiore, the war rages on.

The old government has undergone indefinitely many transformations since its collapse and continues to try to reunite the country. However, in this state of war, there is no clear enemy. After six years of anti-establishment, the country is left broken, scarred, and divided. Every town is a war zone, waiting to be attacked by some unknowable assailant. It could be anyone: the neighbors, an adjacent city, an impromptu militia, or, worst and most feared of all, a mage's guild.

In X784, magical guilds are military organizations. Once peaceful gatherings of mages looking for work, they have transformed into "terrorist groups", or so the government claims. In reality though, guilds are, perhaps, the only thing keeping the pieces of the broken country together. Many guilds have taken it upon themselves to "claim" their host city and the small communities that surround it in order to protect it from the ever-present threat of war, be it from civilians, the government, or other guilds. However, even the protection of a local guild can't completely shield a city from the hardships of the war. Still, many cities protected by a guild have managed to carry on with stability. In one such city, there is a certain guild that everyone has an eye on.

A guild called Fairy Tail.

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Despite the blessing guilds provide and the abundance of mages in Fiore, many cities do not have a guild to protect them, or the guild is too weak to protect the city and is eventually defeated. Cities such as this are often pillaged, ravaged, and sometimes even destroyed by their assailants. What choice do the citizens have but to relocate? Those who don't have the resources to start a new life in a different city often choose to migrate to one of the refugee camps set up by the government, the one saving-grace the government has offered since its collapse. These camps are often dirty, disease-ridden, and unkempt. However, they do offer the important things: food, water, and shelter. Best friends Lucy Heartfilia and Myles Andrelli reside in one such camp. Life in the camp is harsh, but it is better than starving in some God-forsaken city.

The two have been childhood friends since before the collapse of the country, back when Lucy was still a respected member of the Heartfilia family, one of the few families wealthy enough to escape the perils of war. Myles was merely the daughter of a servant who happened to be the same age as Lucy. Myles's mother became Lucy's caretaker when Madame Layla, Lucy's mother, died while Lucy was still young. Myles's mother, Milly, saw how unhappy Lucy was at the Heartfilia mansion and encouraged her to chase her dreams out in the world. Milly promised to assist her surrogate daughter in any and every way possible if she would agree to one condition: that she take Myles with her. Milly hated that her daughter was destined for a life of servitude and wished her to see the true pleasures of life, even if it meant saying goodbye to her only daughter. So, after a tear-jerking goodbye, Lucy and Myles set out into the world, leaving the Heartfilia mansion behind forever.

Lucy and Myles did not have an easy life on the road. Many of the criminals that should be easy to apprehend roam the streets due to the lack of a functioning police force. Lucy and Myles encountered many such criminals on their journey. Thankfully, the two girls happened to be well-versed in magic and were able to defend themselves. Lucy was taught Stellar Spirit Magic by her mother. Madame Layla offered to teach Myles, one of her many displays of bottomless kindness and generosity, but Myles declined. She didn't want to rely on spirits to protect her; plus, she knew that fights would erupt over possession of the gate keys. Instead, she learned magic from one of the many books on magic Madame Layla allowed her to read.

The town that Lucy and Myles were staying in previously was quaint and homely. The people were kind, generous, and willing to help complete strangers such as themselves, which was extremely rare in the time of crisis. In exchange for their kindness, the two female mages agreed to do odd-jobs for the civilians and developed bonds of friendship with many of the townsfolk. Unfortunately, after a couple of months the town was razed by a small group of mages with guild markings that neither recognized. Lucy and Myles managed to make it out safely and followed many of the other townspeople to the refugee camp.

Despite the hardships of their lives, Lucy and Myles managed to grow into two beautiful young ladies. Lucy's hair was the color of pure, unadulterated sunshine and she had a body that made men rush to her aid. Myles wasn't one to be overlooked though. She had shoulder length brown hair that curled beautifully, bright green eyes, and tanned skin; she wasn't lacking in the body-department either. Even the tattered, dirty rags they wore as clothes and the dirt and other filth that covered them wasn't enough to tarnish their beauty. They spent many an hour warding off horny, persistent men with nothing to lose.

Lucy and Myles were preparing dinner in their humble abode, which was basically a tent. It was a plentiful dinner for a time of crisis. A couple pieces of questionable chicken with two large, semi-fresh potatoes. It was more than some pairs received, and the two girls may or may not have used their feminine charm to obtain it.

A thunderous _boom_ sounded to the west, startling everyone in the camp. Panic immediately set in among the civilians. Masses of refugees started to push and shove their way to the nearest exit while frantically trying to gather their meager belongings (if they had any to begin with) and the rest of their respective groups. Lucy and Myles, being capable mages, headed toward the explosion, determined to help in whatever way they possibly could.

What the two mages saw when they arrived at the west gate was horrific. There were several mages (or so the duo guessed) that seemed to be sorting through the crowds of people while some other mages of their group dealt with the camp's guards, though it didn't seem as though the guards would last much longer. The unknown mages seemed to be searching for a particular person as they discarded every single person they inspected. Anyone who didn't pass the test was killed, as if they were insignificant flies. Fire raged around them while the smoke cascaded into the sky in giant plumes. The guards were soon disposed of, all dead or smart enough to act that way.

"She's not here. Let's spread out," the two heard one of the mysterious mages say. He seemed to be the leader because the others followed his command.

Lucy and Myles shared a look and both knew what the other was thinking. They would charge the unknown mages. It was doubtful that they would be able to handle so many, but they could at least buy some time for the civilians to escape. They would go out with no regrets.

When the two began to charge, magic at the ready, a man suddenly appeared before them. He was facing the unknown mages, which meant that Lucy and Myles were staring at his back. He was wearing a strange outfit, from what they could see. A navy cape hid most of his figure, but his legs were wrapped in bandages and he was wearing some sort of hood. He carried many strange staffs on his back and went about setting them in the ground except for one, which he kept in his hand.

"I will handle the mages. Help the civilians escape."

That was all he said before he commenced his attack on the unknown mages. He used a strange magic that seemed to originate from the staffs and each seemed to have its own type of magic. Neither had seen such peculiar magic. Within the first thirty seconds of the "fight", it was blatantly clear that the unknown mages were majorly out-classed by this new mage.

Myles snapped out of her awed state first. She began to pull Lucy along, which also snapped her back to reality. "Come on, you heard what he said. We have to help these other people!"

"But how do you know we can trust him?" Lucy shouted over the noise of the chaos surrounding them: a combination of the fleeing civilians and the fight with the mysterious mage.

"I don't, but at least he's not going around killing people!" Myles shouted back.

Glancing back once more, Lucy took in one last look at the strange mage and glimpsed two things. First, was the metal plate on the forehead of the mage with the strange staffs; it had a symbol that she swore she had seen before, but she couldn't recall where. It kind of looked like some sort of pixie. The second was the insignia on one of the mages that attacked the camp. Unfortunately, it was a symbol she recalled with ease: the symbol of the mages that burned down the previous town.

As Lucy and Myles rushed to aid the civilians, Lucy tried not to let the thought that those mages might be chasing her and Myles creep into her head.

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Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to review.


	2. Fairy Tail

Please enjoy and review, if you feel like it.

I'm terrible with names, so if anyone can think of anything better, please let me know. I'm also not sure about what I want Myles to look like, so that is subject to change.

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Lucy and Myles entered the city of Magnolia in awe.

After the government collapsed, many of the cities of Fiore fell into disarray. The two hadn't seen a city that was so uncorrupted since they left the Heartfilia mansion. The people there were clean and cheery, as if the internal conflicts of the nation were a distant thing not to be worried over. The local markets were overloaded with ripe, mouth-watering food of all shapes and sizes. The buildings looked magnificent after seeing nothing but rubble for so long and the duo could even see a large cathedral in the distance. The city radiated an aura of joy and adventure, much different than the despair and calamity Lucy and Myles had grown accustomed to. Perhaps what was more astonishing was the lack of a wall surrounding the city or guards patrolling. Did the city really have that much faith in its guild?

After the incident at the refugee camp, Lucy and Myles searched for the meaning behind the symbol of the strange mage relentlessly. They eventually learned that the symbol was the insignia of the Fairy Tail guild, so it was no surprise to Lucy that she some-what recognized the insignia of such a well-known guild. The two friends spent the next month traveling to Magnolia, the host city of Fairy Tail. After receiving directions from a kind, elderly woman, the two headed toward the guild hall.

After seeing part of the city, the Fairy Tail guild hall wasn't as grandiose as the two expected. It was modest and looked homely, not gaudy or overbearing, which was pleasant in its own way. Adjacent to the guild hall was something called Fairy Tail Mage's Academy, which struck the two as weird. They had never heard of a school for mages.

Upon entering the guild, the eyes of the two beauties bugged out to a comical degree and their jaws dropped to the floor. Surely this was not how a mage's guild of such a prosperous city went about its day? It seemed as if the entire guild was brawling. Magic, debris, and booze was flying everywhere. Curiously, everyone was smiling and laughing, as if they were in an all-out brawl just for the heck of it.

An ivory-haired goddess approached Lucy and Myles and managed to bring them out of their stupor.

"Hello and welcome to Fairy Tail. My name is Mirajane" she said cheerfully.

Lucy and Myles responded in kind and introduced themselves.

"Um… I don't know if he's here, but we're looking for someone we think is in your guild," Lucy said.

"I'm sure I can help with that. I know pretty much everyone in the guild," Mirajane responded, not abandoning her kind demeanor.

"We don't know his name, but he wears a cape and a hood and carries around a lot of weird staffs. We'd like to thank him for helping us about a month ago," Myles said.

"Hmm…" Mirajane said, looking thoughtful. She turned to a small, old man sitting on the bar with a drink in his hand. "Master, could that be…?"

Makarov overheard their conversation, not having missed the entrance of two beautiful young ladies. He sighed. "I think so, Mira. I'm sorry to say that you probably won't find him here. He's a mysterious man that likes to keep to himself. We don't know that much about him even though he is a member of our guild."

"Oh." The two said simultaneously, feeling dejected.

Mira brought them both into an impromptu hug. To Lucy and Myles, it seemed strange that she would hug strangers such as themselves. "He goes by Mystogan if you ever happen to run into him again. Sorry we couldn't help more. Only the master has ever actually seen him."

"It's ok. It's not your fault," Lucy said. She felt odd, as though she were the one consoling Mira.

"Actually, we'd like to ask you one more thing, if it's not too much trouble," Myles spoke up.

"Sure, ask away."

"Um… We kind of don't have anywhere to go, so we were wondering if we could join this guild. We're both mages, so that's not a problem," Myles said sheepishly. It was an awkward question to ask out of the blue like that.

Mira now wore a semi-serious expression on her face. "I'm sorry, but only the master can decide that. He's the little man sitting on the counter over there." Suddenly, she was back to the kind woman that greeted them upon entry.

"So, lookin' to join up, eh?" Makarov said, now sitting closer to the beautiful duo. "Fairy Tail could always use more busty women! Yahooo!" Makarov said. He now had a faint blush on his cheeks from the alcohol which was probably the reason why he extended his hand and grabbed one of Myles and Lucy's breasts.

Myles and Lucy were shocked and stunned. They didn't know how to react, so they merely stood there and stuttered as the blush crept upon their cheeks.

_Wham!_

"Master, you know that's not how you're supposed to act around women," Mira said, holding a frying pan in her hands.

Makarov, now with a large bump on his head, turned to Mirajane. "Miraaaaa, you're so hard on me," he said as he buried his head in her voluptuous chest and wept comically.

_Wham!_

"You'll have to forgive the master. He gets really perverted when he's drunk," Mirajane said with a smile, as if nothing was seriously wrong with that.

Lucy and Mira were still stunned as the "master" tried to stop the stars from spinning around his head. They were having second thoughts of joining a guild with such a pervy master. Now with a second bump on top of the first, Makarov looked ready for business.

"Fairy Tail is always ready to accept new members. Come to the Academy next door tomorrow morning and we'll get everything straightened out. For now, LET'S CELEBRATE THE ARRIVAL OF OUR NEW MEMBERS!"

The entire guild halted its brawl, which continued during Myles and Lucy's conversation with Master Makarov, in order to shout out its approval.

* * *

"Hey, Gramps! Are these the new guys?"

Lucy and Myles turned to face a boy with pink, spiky hair, onyx-colored eyes, and fangs. He had a huge smile on his face and positively radiated happiness. He wore a dark, open vest with gold lining, displaying his bare chest, and a pair of pants with a waistcoat. Perhaps the most peculiar item of clothing however, was his scarf, which seemed to be covered in scales.

"Aye! I saw the Master talking to them and I've never seen them here before."

Lucy and Myles were even more shocked to see a blue talking cat with white wings floating around. The cat only wore a small, green backpack.

"Natsu, these ladies don't want to talk to an idiot like you," said a boy that was now standing next to the boy with pink hair. The new comer had spikey hair similar to the one called "Natsu" except his was an electric blonde color, similar to Lucy's. His eyes were bright orange and slanted with slits instead of pupils, like Natsu's. His frame was also quite similar to Natsu's, about average height with lean, defined musculature. He had on an orange V-neck shirt and his hands were in the pockets of his black pants which were held up by a white sash. There was a bandana going across his forehead, keeping some of his wild hair back; like Natsu's scarf, the blonde's bandana was covered with scales. With one arm he shoved Natsu into one of the support beams, which snapped like a twig.

Natsu was upon him in a flash. They butted heads and were giving each other death glares. "Who the hell do you think you are, Drake?!"

"You got something to say to me, Natsu?"

A third newcomer sent them both crashing with a kick, only breaking more stuff. Myles and Lucy nearly screamed at his appearance. He was practically naked, with only a pair of boxers on. "You'll have to forgive those weirdoes. They don't know how to act around people."

_Says the naked guy_, thought the female duo in unison.

Natsu and Drake came back with a vengeance, sending the naked guy flying to the other side of the guild and chasing after him as they engaged in another fight.

"Hey! Leave those two girls alone, will ya'!" shouted a brunette in nothing but a swimsuit top and a pair of khakis. "And bring me some more booze!" she said as she tossed an empty barrel to the side, where three others rested.

"Fighting is a _man_!" said a giant, buff guy with white, spikey hair and a scar under his right eye as he entered the fight with Natsu, Drake, and Gray.

_What's with this guild? Everyone's crazy!_ Lucy and Myles thought simultaneously.

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Thanks for reading. Leave a review if you'd like.


	3. The Academy

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Since Makarov only told them to show up "tomorrow morning", Lucy and Myles didn't know when exactly to show up and the arbitrary time they chose, 10am, was an hour late. Can you really blame them? The guild paid for a hotel room until the two friends moved into the school dorms. After going without a hot shower for God knows how long and a bed that wasn't a sleeping bag, they weren't about it pass up on an opportunity like that. Despite this, none of the staff seemed off-put, which the duo was thankful for. They underwent a series of tests to "judge their magical abilities" after filling out some menial paper work (name, age, etc.). All of the staff seemed to be impressed by their abilities and gave them compliments after each exam. This could have just been common courtesy, but when the exam was over and they were placed with the graduating class, the two decided that the compliments were sincere. After the exam was finished, the two ladies were given their academy schedules and other information pertaining to school functions: dorm room numbers, lunch options, school rules, etc.

"Miss Levi? Would you be so kind as to show our new students around the campus?"

One of the student secretaries that had been busy doing paperwork, jumped up and rushed over to the two women. "My name is Levi McGarden and it would seem that I'll be your guide today. Please keep all hands, feet, and other appendages inside the car at all times."

Despite how corny it was, Lucy and Myles couldn't help but laugh at Levi's joke. She was a bit on the small side, though she appeared to be about the same age as Lucy and Myles. She had blue hair and glasses and was, altogether, very cute. Lucy and Myles introduced themselves and the trio departed.

While Levi was showing Lucy and Myles around the rather large campus, she engaged the two in polite chit-chat. As it turned out, the trio had much in common. They all loved reading, even though Lucy and Myles weren't able to find many books since leaving the Heartfilia mansion, not that either would let that little secret out in the first place. Who knew what they would do when they found out that Lucy was technically one of the richest young women in the country?

After departing the location of their first class, which they both shared, Lucy decided to ask the question recurring in her thoughts. "So what's up with this school? I never knew that schools for mages existed."

"I was wondering about that too. Why do we need to attend an academy if we already belong to the guild?" Myles asked in compliment.

"Well, the academy is basically a stepping stone into full-membership of the guild. Many of the bigger guilds have academies like this one where they teach upcoming mages how to use and appreciate magic. This helps to ensure a steady flow of members and general stability of the guild. Although ours is new: the current senior class will be the first one to ever graduate."

"What do you mean 'full-membership'? I thought the Master already made us members?"

"Well, he did. Basically, this academy teaches young mages like us how to live as a mage: like how to complete jobs, use magic, and other important things like that. A lot of members didn't like it when the academy was built and implemented, but it serves a good purpose. The world is a dangerous place, especially right now, and mages who weren't ready lost their lives. So, in order to better prepare upcoming mages, the academy was built. After you graduate from the academy and become a full-member, you can go on more difficult jobs with higher rewards."

"Ooh," said the two new mages.

"So, do you get to take jobs while you're still in the academy? This form says that rent for the dorms is 70,000 jewel a month." Lucy asked with trepidation.

"Since you're part of the senior class, you will be assigned to a team and will conduct small-time jobs with your team in order to pay rent. You'll also be graded on how well you complete the job."

"Interesting. I never would have thought that such a school existed," Myles commented.

"Even though it's a school, I still think it's a lot of fun, but that may just because I'm weird like that. A lot of the students go to hang out at the guild hall next door after class and on weekends, feel free to tag along. You can come with me and my friends if you want to," Levi said with a kind smile. "Well, I believe this is the end of the tour. It was very nice meeting you both. Now, if you don't mind, that paperwork is not going to do itself!" She said as she went back to the office.

At that moment, a loud, shrill bell sounded, signaling the end of the lunch hour, and students began to crowd the hallway. On the way through the halls, they overheard many conversations amongst the other students.

"Look! There's Gray. God, he's so sexy," said one girl pointing to the naked man from last night, who, thankfully, had his clothes on that morning.

"Yeah, his magic is really cool too!" said the girl next to her.

"I heard that his teammate was kicked off of the team because he was too busy flirting with girls."

"That's got to be Loke. He's always doing stuff like that."

"Oh! That's Natsu and Drake from Triple Dragons! They're my all-time favorite mages! They're so hoot!" A girl from another group said.

"That's only because Natsu walks around with no shirt and Drake has no interest in you, which only makes you want him more," scolded her friend.

Ignoring her, the random girl went on. "I wonder if they go through a mating cycle that makes them crazy with lust and one of them will be overcome with the desire to make me his! Or maybe they'll both want me and fight over who will have me and then the winner will carry me away and we'll spend the next week in bed together and we'll fall in love and have children and…" The girl continued to ramble on with large hearts for eyes and a heavy blush on her cheeks.

"Dragon Slayers are supposed to _fight_ dragons, not _mate_ like them. Jeez," said her friend.

"You know you can't stop her when she gets like this," said a third friend. "Speaking of dragons, why is the team called 'Triple Dragons' if there are only two of them?"

"Well, I heard that the third one defected for some reason…"

At that point, Myles and Lucy stopped listening. The two looked at each other as they continued to stroll through the campus.

"You really think there are _Dragon Slayers_ here?" Lucy asked.

"I don't think that's even possible. Dragon Slaying Magic is one of the Lost Magics, how would they even learn it?"

"From dragons, of course," answered a smooth voice from directly behind the duo.

Startled, the two females turned only to come face to face to face with a boy with orange hair and blue glasses standing between them. Stunned by his statement and its implication, neither girl noticed that his arms were resting on each of their shoulders and he was subtly escorting them down the hallway.

"Seriously? _Dragons_? You can't expect us to believe that. Dragons don't even exist," Lucy said.

"That's what they both claim, anyway. Believe what you want; some people believe it and some don't. But who wants to talk about them? I'd rather talk about you two lovely ladies. You're beauty is so dazzling I can hardly see. I'm almost afraid to take off my glasses for fear of going blind, but how much more beautiful would you both be if I saw you without restrictions. Oh, the labors of love!" The boy narrated dramatically.

He was grabbed by the hood of his thick coat and shoved into the crowd of students filling the hallway. "Cut it out with that romantic shit and mind your own business, Loke," said Drake, suddenly appearing from the crowd of students with Natsu beside him.

Loke reappeared from the crowd, looking pissed and started to encroach upon Drake when he noticed the gate keys hanging from Lucy's belt. He began to freak out and run away, saying something about the 'cruelty of fate for not allowing their love to flourish'.

Drake didn't seem to mind Loke's disappearance while Natsu laughed at his antics.

"You two are the newbies from yesterday, right?" Natsu said as leaned in close to Lucy and began to sniff her.

Lucy didn't know how to deal with him being so close and how strange he was acting. _This guild is so weird!_ She shouted in her mind as a blush appeared on her cheeks. "Um… what are you doing?" she said awkwardly after a few seconds.

"You smell nice," Natsu said with a big grin on his face, as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Idiot, you're making them uncomfortable" Drake scolded as he punched Natsu in the arm. It looked like a hard punch, but Natsu didn't seem the least bit affected, though he did back off. "Anyway, I'm Drake Rosarian and this is my friend Natsu Dragneel. Since we didn't get a chance to last night, we just wanted to say hello and welcome you to the guild."

"That's very kind of you," Myles said, recovering from the Natsu's strange actions before Lucy. "My name is Myles Andrelli and this is my friend Lucy He-"

"Is it true you were trained by dragons?!" Lucy shouted loud enough to cut off Myles and for half the hall to hear. Lucy realized it wasn't intentional but if people knew her family's name, everything would surely be ruined. In order to prevent that, she shouted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Uh…" Drake stuttered, confused by her random outburst. "Don't you think that's kind of personal?" He said awkwardly.

Lucy blushed again and began to ramble about nonsense from embarrassment, while Myles seemed to take amusement form her friend's behavior.

Natsu didn't seem to mind either, as he just cracked up. "You're so weird!" he said between laughs. "I like you guys," he said with another dazzling smile.

With his hands in his pockets, Drake shared in his friend's mirth with a smile of his own, displaying his own set of fangs. "I think I agree with you there, Natsu."

This time Myles shared Lucy's blush, which hadn't faded. That random chick from a few minutes ago was right: these two were hot.

* * *

We all know where this is heading!

Thanks for reading. Leave a review if you want.


	4. Erza

Please enjoy at your leisure.

* * *

Fairy Tail Mage's Academy was a strange school, indeed. There were only three classes, even though the school day lasted several hours. Apparently, the student body was small enough that students of the same grade shared all their classes. The first two classes for seniors, Etiquette for the Proper Mage and Magic Lv4 respectively, lasted for approximately an hour and a half each and, after an hour for lunch, the seniors reassembled for their last class, Training Lv4 (which lasted for three hours by itself, ending the day at 4pm).

Etiquette for the Proper Mage was taught by Mirajane Strauss. This class was basically a guide to life as a mage: how to conduct oneself as a mage on a job, rules of the guild, etc. It seemed to be an easy course, for which both friends were thankful, because their Magic Lv4 course was going to be a doozy. Taught by Master Makarov, the rigorous course would explore the origins, histories, and properties of magic, how it affects the mind, body, and soul, as well as how magic can be shaped into the many uses it currently holds.

Training Lv4, however, was still a mystery to Lucy and Myles. What does 'training' entail? What will they be training? Mind? Body? Magic? All three at once? The instructor was none other than Erza Scarlet, the Titania. Everyone in the magical world knew that name: Queen of the Fairies and the strongest woman in Fairy Tail. Lucy and Myles were more than a little intimidated. They made their way to the huge gymnasium behind the Academy with anxiety tightening their chests. They arrived in time to see the group of seniors entering the gym. Myles was able to spot Natsu's pink hair and saw Drake beside him. The duo also saw Levi, Gray a.k.a. the naked man, Loke, and a few others they recognized from their short time at Fairy Tail.

The gym looked even bigger from the inside. All kinds of fancy weight equipment was gathered in one corner and there were lines all over floor, depicting the areas for various sports and games. The students all piled into two rooms, assumed to be the locker rooms. Lucy and Myles followed the girls, unsure of what to do.

Thankfully, Lucy and Myles were able to borrow a shirt and a pair of shorts each from Levi and the other girls. All of the girls had pity in their eyes as they said that Erza wouldn't hold back on them even though it was their first day.

"Students! Begin your training immediately! The first one to ask for a water break will do 1000 laps around the gym!" shouted a strong, feminine voice after the students exited the locker rooms. Lucy and Myles turned toward the voice and were greeted by the sight of the one and only Erza Scarlet. From what the two knew of the Titania, she always wore a set of armor, but she had abandoned her armor today. Today, she was wearing a sports bra and a pair of tight shorts, a sweat band on her forehead, a whistle around her neck, and her scarlet hair was tied back in a ponytail. Altogether, she seemed to be taking her position as a trainer very seriously.

"Natsu! Gray!" Erza shouted.

The two she beckoned had been arguing since they accidentally bumped into each other on the way to the locker room. Now, however, they looked to be the best of friends, except that they were sweating heavily and visibly shaking. Natsu appeared to have turned into Happy, because he just kept repeating the word "aye."

"You two were the last to exit the locker rooms: 1000 laps!" she commanded.

Natsu and Gray scrambled about to follow her order as if their lives depended on it.

"Levi, Jet, Droy! All of you have yet to complete 500 push-ups! I expect to be impressed at the end of class!"

Levi's team immediately dropped what they were doing and began doing push-ups.

"Alzack and Bisca…"

Erza continued to tear into the other students in a similar fashion for about ten minutes until her attention turned to Lucy and Myles. After watching the terror Erza inflicted into the other students, The duo would rather the ground open up and swallow them whole than face Erza's criticism.

"You two must be the new guild members that I've heard about. My name is Erza, and it is my honor to meet you," she said as she got on one knee and covered her heart with her right fist, looking very much like a knight.

"I-I'm Lucy and this is Myles," Lucy said shakily, unsure if it was the right time to speak. She was expecting Erza to blow up on them any second and wasn't sure if she would survive it or not.

"Excellent. Fairy Tail is glad to have such outstanding women among its ranks. Now, you two will be doing weight training until you drop from exhaustion today. Tomorrow, you will both tackle your first job as a Fairy Tail mage and I expect nothing but outstanding compliments. Natsu and Drake from Triple Dragons will be accompanying you. You will all hand in a complete and detailed report on Monday and, depending on those reports, I will decidse what team each of you will be placed on."

"Why are those two coming?" Myles asked without thinking.

"Because we volunteered, duh," said Drake with a grin as he was suddenly behind the female mages. "Besides, me and Natsu are dying to find out what kind of magic you girls use." He leaned in a little closer and whispered so that only Lucy and Myles could hear, "Don't worry. She's only allowed to kill you during class time." Even though he was completely serious, it was still funny to watch their eyes widen in fear.

Erza delivered a quick kick to Drake's face sending him flying across the gym and clear through the wall. "Why are you just standing around?! 1000 laps!" The redheaded she-monster turned to glare at Lucy and Myles, but, before she could say anything, the two were running toward the weights faster than they'd ever ran before.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Leave a review if you want.


	5. Strange Bedfellows

Please enjoy.

* * *

Lucy and Myles were literally crawling up the stairs by the time they returned to the dorms. Erza did not take training lightly and, true to her instructions, they used the weights until they dropped. The Fairy Tail dorms were down the street from the Academy and guild hall, so after the rigorous training session, the two didn't have the energy to walk all the way home. Instead, they stopped by the guild hall next door for a couple hours to regain some strength.

Either Fairy Tail had some kind of extended festival going on when the two first arrived or this was how the guild always was. Once again, the guild hall was mass chaos. There was a huge brawl commencing to the left and the damage from yesterday was miraculously repaired. Off to the right, the group the two friends had dubbed "the Crazies" were socializing. The severe alcoholic, Cana as they found out earlier, was overdoing it with the drinking again. Gray was walking around mostly naked, until Erza pointed it out and he scrambled around looking for his clothes like he lost them without noticing. Loke was flirting with three girls at once; it was hard to tell if the girls even belong to Fairy Tail in the first place. Elfman was giving lectures on being a _man_ to Jet and Droy while Levi read a book off to the side. Erza, now clad in her armor, was calmly eating a piece of strawberry cake until Gray knocked it over and it splattered on the ground. She proceeded to beat him to a pulp in a display that could only be described as terrifying. The only two things missing were Natsu and Drake. Those two weren't the type to fade into the crowd, so they weren't at the guild hall, unless Erza already sent them flying.

The female duo merely crawled into the nearest chair, which happened to be at the table Erza and Levi were sitting at; Erza had a new piece of cake and Levi was still reading. Lucy and Myles were nervous about sitting so close to Erza, but after a few minutes they found that she was just like every other member of Fairy Tail: outrageously "quirky", but friendly and sincere. The two already hit it off with Levi, so striking up a conversation was easy. After navigating through a conversational maze, they eventually came to the topic of romance novels. Erza thought that the heroine should be brave and strong, like an Amazonian, and eventually save the world from some dire threat and, afterward, fall in the arms of her lover. To all present in the conversation, they thought such an opinion could only be an epitome of Erza's personality. Levi and Lucy, however, enjoyed much simpler novels, filled with internal struggles and dynamic emotions. Myles flat out didn't like "fancy-shmancy romance". She much preferred something that was action-packed or maybe a thriller or mystery novel.

After a couple hours, many laughs, and a delicious meal, courtesy of Mirajane, Lucy and Myles decided to head to the dorms. They figured that they had recovered enough energy to make it down the street without collapsing. The two miscalculated, however, as their legs turned to jelly once more after making it halfway up the stairs to the 3rd floor. Thankfully, they were alone in the staircase, so no one saw them crawl up the rest of the stairs.

The dormitories of the Mage's Academy were quaint and homey. The furniture was simple, certainly not cheap or broken, and the room-for-two had more than enough space for the both of them. Thankfully, they only had to share a bathroom with each other and not an entire horde of other girls. They each had their own bedroom with a small kitchen and living room area. Added together, 70,000 jewel a month was a reasonable price.

The two ladies wanted nothing more than to take a nice, hot bath (separately, you perverts) and have a deep, refreshing, good-night's sleep. However, it seemed cruel fate would deny them even this simple pleasure. When they entered the front door, they were greeted with an unexpected sight. Happy and another talking, flying cat were racing around playing something akin to tag; the second, unknown cat wore a white T-shirt, covering most of his dark gray fur and white belly. Drake was leisurely sitting on the couch with a stack of papers in hand, immersed in whatever he was reading. Lucy's door happened to be open and they could see rosy-pink hair peeking out under the sheets.

"What the hell is going on?!" Lucy and Myles shouted in unison, appalled by the breech of privacy committed by two people they barely knew, along with their pets.

Startled by their outburst, Drake dropped all of the papers he was holding, causing them to scatter about on the floor. "Aw man. I was just getting to the good part, too. It's going to take forever to get all these papers back in order," he said as he began to gather the papers.

"What are you doing here?" Myles asked, still amazed by the audacity these two were exhibiting.

"Waiting for you two, of course," Drake replied, as if his actions were not in the least bit out of place.

Myles opened her mouth to retort, but she was cut off by Lucy.

"KYAA!" She shouted as she scrambled for the papers littering the floor. She had recognized the handwriting as her own which could only mean that he was reading her novel in progress. "I can't believe you went through my stuff!"

"I didn't. It was laying right here on the table," Drake said, looking at her curiously.

"That doesn't give you permission to read it!"

"Why would you leave it out if you didn't want anyone to read it, ya' weirdo?" Drake questioned, not-so-subtly implying that Lucy was the one acting strangely.

"Ugh. I give up," Lucy said as she finished gathering the papers and began to carry them back to her room.

"Hey, wait! I'm not done reading that yet," Drake protested.

"You weren't meant to read it in the first place!"

"You can't just take it away without letting me finish reading it! At least tell me how it ends."

Myles, after recovering from the surprise, busted out laughing. Who would have guessed they'd come home to such a scene? It was like they were in some sort of sitcom. Happy, the unknown cat, and Drake starting laughing too and, eventually, even Lucy joined in, having to admit that the whole ordeal was _a little bit_ funny.

"Would you guys keep it down?! I'm trying to sleep in here!" Natsu shouted, emerging from Lucy's room.

"Oh, Natsu, you're finally awake! Look, Lucy and Myles finally came home," said Happy.

"And you!" Lucy shouted as she delivered a swift kick to Natsu's face, remembering her anger toward the two intruding mages. "Why are sleeping in my bed, anyway?!"

"Whaa! Lucy's scary!" Happy shouted.

"Ow. Jeez, Lucy. Why'd you have to kick me like that?" Natsu said as he rubbed the new bump on his head.

"What are you guys even doing here?! I don't even know who you are!" Lucy shouted as she pointed at the unknown gray cat. "Haven't any of you ever heard of privacy or common decency?!"

"We were just waiting for you guys to get home. I was bored so I feel asleep," Natsu said, giving Lucy a weird look.

"And I started reading your book because Natsu feel asleep," Drake added.

"And then we started playing tag!" Happy finished.

"Um… Is he going to be alright?" Myles interrupted, point to the gray cat. After Lucy said she didn't know who he was, he crouched over with his hands and knees on the floor and his head low to the ground. There was a gloomy aura around him and he kept muttering about how he was "lower than dirt" and "unworthy to live."

"Oh, Max?" Drake said nonchalantly. "He'll be fine. He doesn't handle criticism very well. It happens all the time," he continued, waving off his companion's strange behavior.

"Now the real fun can begin!" Natsu shouted, with a big grin on his face.

"Aye!" Happy complimented.

"No, no, no, no, no. You all are leaving right now. Myles and I just want to go to sleep, not cater to trespassers," Lucy said sternly.

"Awww, come on, Luce. Think of all the fun we can have," Natsu pouted.

_Luce? Since when is it ok for him to give me a nickname?_ Lucy thought.

"Besides that, it will be easier to leave for our jobs tomorrow with all of us here together," Drake interjected.

"Aye!"

"Wait. "_Jobs?"_ As in more than one?" Myles questioned incredulously. She was only standing right now because her exhaustion had somehow faded from her mind due to the bizarre situation she was in. However, even with a full night's sleep, she was almost certain that she couldn't handle more than one job in a single day.

"Yeah. You didn't think all four of us would be going on one job, did you?" Drake said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Natsu, Happy, and Blondie are going on some job in Shirotsume Town to burn a book or something while you, me, and Max go to Hargeon to beat the crap out of some creep."

_What right does he have to call me Blondie? ... And why did I get stuck with Natsu?!_ Lucy complained in her mind. She didn't really have anything against him, but Drake seemed to be the more level-headed one of the strange duo.

"Alright! Now our night of super awesome adventures can begin!" Natsu shouted loud enough for half the building to hear.

"Aye, sir!"

_Ugh. How am I going to be able to deal with this for a whole day tomorrow?_

Fortunately for Myles and Lucy, Drake managed to effectively knock Natsu unconscious after his rambunctious outburst, so they were all saved from the "night of super awesome adventures." Thankfully, Happy and Max settled down after Natsu was disposed of as well.

Lucy went to take a nice, long bath, trusting Myles to show Drake, the unconscious Natsu, and their companions out the door.

"So how did you guys get in here anyway?" Myles asked after Lucy entered the bathroom.

"The window was open," replied Drake casually.

"How did you know that this was our room? We've only been in this room since yesterday."

"It smelled like you two," Drake said, as if it that was the obvious answer.

_Um… ok_ Myles thought, too tired to care at that moment. Her attention turned to the other side of the room. "What the…? Where did all those clothes come from?!" she questioned incredulously. On the other side of the living room, there was a huge pile of clothes, as if the two had neglected the laundry for some time.

"Oh right. I totally forgot to tell you about that," Drake said, suddenly remembering. "Mira, Levi, and Erza dropped those off for you. They said that 'young women shouldn't go around wearing dishrags' or something like that."

Myles didn't want to admit, but she couldn't deny the truth of those words. It was true that their wardrobe was less than desirable. After being on the road so long, the two girls only had maybe two or three pairs of clothes and all of them were filthy and covered with crude patch-work. It's not like they were the wealthiest traveling mages. Most of their money was used to buy food and rent shelter, leaving the need for new clothes in the dust. It didn't feel right to accept such a generous offer. These people barely knew them and were already helping to this degree? She felt like if she accepted the clothes, she would seem selfish or maybe they would lord it over her in the future. She bit her lip, unsure of what she should do.

"If you don't want them, you don't have to take them. But if you're worried about something, then you might as well forget it. Fairy Tail's not the type of guild to leave people behind like that."

Myles looked to Drake, finding nothing but sincerity and concern in his eyes and calm facial expression. Even though she'd only been wearing the insignia of the guild for a day, she knew that no one in Fairy Tail would ever do something like this only to turn around and spit in her face later. What was more: Myles could see the real meaning behind these clothes. Yes, on the surface it seemed like guild members helping out other guild members, friends helping out friends, but it was more than that. In some ways, these clothes represented their acceptance into the guild and that was what truly touched Myles's heart. She couldn't stop the tears that gathered along her eyelids, threatening to fall. She summoned up her courage and managed to avoid completely breaking down in the face of such a kind gesture.

"Right. Thanks. We… we really needed these," she said with a small smile.

"I'm glad, but I'm not the one you need to thank," Drake said with a fanged grin and a slight twinkly in his eye. "Although, maybe I need to thank you, cause' we looked through some of those clothes and seeing you in those skirts is going to be-"

_Ka-Blam!_

And with that, Drake was down for the count as well.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Feel free to review.


	6. Her Magic is Revealed!

Whew! This is a long chapter. 15 pages in Word and almost 5000 words.

I'm thinking of changing Myles's name to Sophie. Thoughts?

To any of you who are worrying that this will be one of those fics where Lucy and Myles will only serve as "damsels in distress", you can rest easy. I also dislike stories like that and I can promise you that this will not be one of them.

Please enjoy.

* * *

When it came down to it, Lucy and Myles didn't have the heart to throw their unconscious comrades out. Instead, they put them both on the floor in the living room with a couple of pillows and some blankets. Happy and Max were allowed to sleep on the couch under the condition that they not get cat-hair everywhere. Their generosity, however, backfired sometime in the night. When Lucy woke up in the morning, she let out an ear-drum-shattering scream when she opened her eyes only to see Natsu's pink hair right beside her in her _twin-sized_ bed. Startled awake by Lucy's scream, Myles jumped out of bed and ultimately tripped over Drake, who was lying on the floor next to her bed. They officially learned their lesson then and promptly shoved them out the front door, even though they would all be leaving for their jobs soon.

* * *

"Ugh… Kill me… Please… just… end it now," Drake managed to get out between urges to puke.

"Who would have thought that he would have such severe motion sickness?" Myles inquired, sitting next to the very sick Drake on the train. He was currently leaned heavily on her left side, her being by the window, and she wished he wouldn't. Judging by his face, she was in the splatter zone and she was _not_ looking forward to that.

"Yeah, he can't stand any kind of transportation," Max said, sitting in the bench across from the two. He watched as his companion slid onto the floor. "Natsu has that problem too," he added as an after-thought.

"Huh. You don't say," Myles said, intrigued.

Myles, Drake, and Max were on their way to Hargeon. There they would be searching for someone called Bora of Prominence. According to the job request, the client also had reliable information saying that Bora was working closely with someone from the underground to kidnap young women, ages 16 to 30. The job request happened to be from a local police officer. The request says that the police in Hargeon, a quaint port town, are not equipped to deal with mages above the novice level. The mages who accepted the job would have to find Bora, apprehend him and all his accomplices, and deliver them into police custody. Myles was mostly just stunned that Hargeon actually had a functioning police force.

Myles thought as she read over the job request. It didn't sound too hard and the reward wasn't anything to brag about, though she guessed that would be true for her first job as a Fairy Tail mage. The hardest part would be actually finding this Bora character. All they had was a scrape of cloth from an earlier capture-attempt by the police and some hand-drawn sketches, though it didn't seem like a reliable sketch. _What is the cloth for?_ She wondered. _Were we supposed to bring a dog or something?_

Looking outside, Myles was once again reminded of the state of Fiore. Passing through a city on the way to Hargeon, she could see the city's disarray, even if it was just for a moment. She'd only been in Magnolia for a few days, but there was something about that city. She'd been traveling around Fiore for several years and she knew all too well the chaos the country descended into after the collapse of the government in X778. However, while in Magnolia, she managed to feel and act as if that world didn't exist, much like the villagers she observed when they first arrived. It felt like every city was a city like Magnolia: that it was the standard, not the exception.

"Alright! We're here!" Max shouted. He looked to congratulate his teammate on another hard-won victory over transportation, but found that he wasn't there. In fact, he wasn't even in the train car from what they could see.

"At last! Sweet, solid, un-moving ground!" they each heard in the distance.

Myles and Max looked out the window to see Drake kneeling over and worshiping the ground.

* * *

"How are we even supposed to find this guy?" Myles questioned her companions as they walked along the streets of Hargeon.

"Who cares about that right now? Let's get something to eat!" Drake said, clutching his rumbling stomach.

"Yeah, I want some fish!" Max shouted as the two raced off to the nearest restaurant.

_Ugh. What am I going to do with those two?_ Myles thought sullenly as they left her in the dust.

"Kyaa! Salamander!" she heard some girl screech on the other side of the road.

"I love you, Salamander!"

"Not as much as I love you, Salamander!"

"Salamander!"

Myles was now standing in front of a large throng of women surrounding a single man. He was tall and slim, with average-looking hair. He wore nothing out of the ordinary, though she thought the cape was overdoing it a little.

"Ladies, ladies, please don't fight. There's plenty of me to go around," the one called Salamander said.

_Such a smooth, deep voice,_ Myles thought._ And he's really handsome now that I think about it…_

She couldn't help but move closer to him. It was as if her body moved of its own will, not that she minded. Now that she was getting closer, she could feel her heart beating faster, like it was hammering in her chest. Her body started to heat up and she could practically see the blush staining her cheeks. Her skin felt all tingly. She was getting all flustered just by getting near this man.

She didn't feel like she was dressed well enough to be in the presence of this man. From the pile of clothes given to her and Lucy, she opted for a pair of khakis shorts, cut off at her mid-thigh, and a light purple blouse. While the shorts hugged her curvy hips nicely and the blouse did nothing to hide her breasts, she didn't feel like it was enough. She felt like she should be in some kind of evening gown with perfect hair and makeup.

_What are these feelings?_ She thought. _I've never believed in love at first sight, but could this be…?_

"Hey Myles, come on. We got a table at the restaurant," Drake said as he approached her through the crowd of fangirls.

He put his hand on her shoulder, thinking she hadn't heard him, and the spell shattered. Her body returned to normal and she didn't feel like she was going to faint in his presence anymore. With the sudden disappearance of these feelings, it didn't take more than a few seconds for Myles to realize what was going on.

_He must be using some kind of charm magic. The pervert._ She thought.

"Myles, come on. Max is waiting for us," Drake said, nudging her slightly.

"Hang on a second. This guy's using magic to seduce women. Maybe he's in league with the guy we're after," Myles said, not taking her eyes off of this "Salamander" for a second.

"Alright. Let's beat him up and then we'll ask him," Drake said, starting to move through the crowd.

In hindsight, Drake probably should have said that a bit quieter. As soon as he finished his sentence, the brain-washed women were upon him like a pack of hungry wolves. They descended on him without mercy, hitting, pulling, and generally doing all they could to 'punish' him for his intentions. They were saying things like "don't even think about it" and "like hell we're gonna let you do something like that."

"Ladies, there's no need to fight," said Salamander as he helped Drake to his feet after being pummeled.

"Oh, Salamander. You're so kind."

"It's nothing really," he said. "Here. You can have this for your troubles," he said as he handed Drake a copy of his signature.

"Uh… No thanks."

"How dare you disrespect Salamander like that!" shouted the women in uproar.

"Ok! Ok! I'll take the stupid signature," Drake grumbled after the beating the fangirls gave him.

"Well, then. Since that matter has been resolved, I must take my leave. I'm having a party tonight on my boat and you're all invited!" Salamander announced. He snapped his fingers and flew off on a platform of purple fire.

* * *

"I can't believe that we let him get away. He was probably working with Bora," Myles moped as she nibbled on her food at the restaurant.

"Relax. We'll catch that guy later. Right now we eat!" Drake said as he devoured his food.

"Yeah, don't worry. We'll definitely find this Bora guy," Max reassured.

"And how are we supposed to do that? We've let our only lead run away," Myles said, starting to get angry.

"We got that piece of cloth, right?" Drake asked, looking at Max.

"Yep," Max replied.

"How is that supposed to help us?" Myles asked incredulously.

"Drake has a really sharp nose," Max asserted, showing pride in his companion's abilities.

"It can't be that good can it?" Myles asked skeptically.

"Don't underestimate it," Max said like he knew something she didn't. She imagined that he knew several things about Drake that she didn't.

"Relax, Myles. We'll definitely complete this job," Drake reassured her with a big smile.

"Right," she said, admitting defeat. There was no fighting that confidence in his oddly-shaped, orange eyes, she knew at least that much about him.

"That pervert said he was having a party on a boat tonight. I guess we'll have to attend if we want to investigate him," Myles reasoned.

Drake immediately turned green and started acting like he was going to puke at the mention of the boat.

"Oh, come on! Just by mentioning it?"

* * *

Later, Myles and Max boarded the pervert's boat. They knew this was the one because there were so many brain-washed fangirls crowding the area. Myles managed to work out a deal with a local shop so she was outfitted in a lovely evening gown for the occasion.

It really was amazing, this town. Even though it went without the protection of a guild, it still managed to remain essentially uncorrupted. If she had to guess, she would say that the ports in Hargeon were an invaluable resource to the towns and cities surrounding it. Any potential aggressors wouldn't dare squander such a resource in a time like this.

Drake was hardly pleased about separating, even though she assured him that she was a mage and was quite capable of handling this herself. He grumbled something under his breath that Myles hadn't quite heard, but it mattered little. They walked around the city for the rest of the afternoon fruitlessly trying to pick up a scent using the cloth. The pervert throwing the party was still the only lead they had to this Bora guy. Since Drake would be less than useless on the boat, she had no choice but to go alone At the very least, Drake made her promise to take Max along, to which she agreed. He was floating along beside her while she mingled through the crowd. People gave them weird stares, but she didn't care. She found that she actually liked having him around; he was a lot of fun when he wasn't being obnoxious or while he was having one of those depression fits after someone criticized him.

"Ah, so you made it," said a voice she recognized all too well.

Myles turned around and, sure enough, there was Salamander. He seemed to be staring at her breasts. She wasn't very surprised; after all, her bust looked amazing in her dress. Besides, any man that used magic just to attract the attention of women was bound to be a pervert.

"Like you even recognize me. We only saw each other for two minutes," Myles said plainly, not fooled by his charade.

"You're the one that was with the blonde fellow, yes? He refused to accept my signature?"

"Fine, you know who I am. Your charm spell still won't work on me. That magic's weakness is awareness," she said stubbornly.

"I had a feeling you were a mage," Salamander said smoothly, giving her a smile.

"Psh, as if. You're just saying that so you don't look like a complete idiot _and_ a pervert, which you do."

This time, Salamander showed a hint of anger, but only for just a second. It left as quickly as it arrived, buried under the creepy façade once more. He was definitely hiding something, Myles deduced.

"Pervert? How cruel," he said. "Are you referring to this?" he asked as he held up his hand, displaying the ring holding the charm spell. "I just want to be popular at my party. Is that so bad?"

_It's still wrong to manipulate innocent civilians like that_, she thought, but refrained from saying anything.

"Here, why don't I poor you a glass of champagne and sit with you for a while? Maybe then you'll see that I'm not such a bad guy," Salamander said.

"Like I would drink anything that comes from you. Who knows what could be in it," Myles said in defiance.

This time that look of aggravation lingered for just a second longer. She was getting to him. Soon, she'd have him eating out of the palm of her hand, giving her answers without even realizing it.

"I hope you don't mind if I help myself then? I'm quite thirsty," Salamander said as he moved to poor himself some champagne.

"Myles, I've got a bad feeling about this guy. I think we should get off the boat," Max whispered into her ear.

"I know what you mean. Let me ask him a couple questions and then we'll leave," Myles whispered back.

"Salamander, I'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind," Myles said, gaining his attention once more.

"Anything, my dear," he said, giving her a heated look.

While he might of thought it was "sexy" or "erotic", it came off as creepy and weird and Myles shuddered a bit.

"Do you know anything about a man named Bora?"

Salamander immediately stood up and looked genuinely shocked. Then his faced returned back to "normal" with a smirk. "I didn't think anyone would find me so quickly. You must be guild mages looking to apprehend me" he said darkly.

Myles jumped up and readied herself in a battle stance. "I had suspected you were connected to him, but I never thought that an idiot like you would actually be a renowned criminal," Myles insulted.

This time the anger did not fade. "Such a bad girl. I guess since you know my real name, I have no choice but to act now." He snapped his fingers and two large, burly men scrambled into the room. They restrained her and Max with ease since they were in a small room. She could hear trouble through the wall as the other guests on the boat were similarly restrained.

"I am Bora of Providence and welcome aboard my slave ship!" He said in a malicious tone. "It's such a shame really. I was willing to treat all of you as my esteemed guests until it was time to sell you, but I guess my kindness was misplaced."

Myles chose that moment to strike. Using her magic, she momentarily altered her heels so that they were made of iron. She slammed her iron heels into one of the henchmen's foot, probably breaking it. She used his confusion to break free and deliver a swift, hard kick to the other henchman's face, effectively knocking him unconscious. She similarly dispatched the first henchman.

"My, my. That's some unusual magic you have there. I'm not sure that I've ever faced someone that uses Alteration Magic," Bora said calmly.

"You have a keen eye," Myles said as she took a battle stance once more, ready for Bora to make his move.

"Unfortunately for you, I already know that magic's weakness," Bora said as he raised his hand. "Though you can manipulate your surroundings, you can't alter your opponent's magic," he said with a grin, sure in his victory. A jet of purple fire magic shot from his hand, racing toward Myles from across the small room. She only had a second to act.

Instinct took over and she dodged. With a destructive-type fire magic like that, it wouldn't turn out well for her if she continued her fight in the tiny room. She bolted for the door and ran for the deck. [Please don't quit reading because you think Myles is weak. I promise that's not the case.]

"Running away, are we? How shameful," Bora said as he followed.

When he arrived on the deck, he found that his henchmen were all defeated, and the gray cat was leading them below deck and out of harm's way. He turned his head to the right and saw Myles standing at the edge of the deck, her arms held up and a magic circle in front of her hands. She seemed to be concentrating and she was sweating and shaking slightly. Bora's eyes widened in fear when he saw what she was doing.

There was a huge wave rising not far from the boat.

_We're not that far from shore. This will take almost all of my magic power, but a wave this big should push us back to shore. If we fought while on the boat, those civilians would be in danger; getting them to safety is more important than that idiot. I'll just have to trust Drake to take care of him._

"What are you doing, you idiot girl? You'll kill us all!" Bora shouted as he sent a blast of purple fire racing toward her.

He was too late, though. Myles released her magic and the wave crashed into the boat. Myles managed to grab onto something before she was thrown overboard. Thankfully, enough of the boat was sticking out of the water that most of the wave crashed into the side, not on the deck. There was a hard jerk as the wave impacted. Just as she planned, the boat was pushed along the water by the force of the wave for a minute or two until it hit the sand and halted. Hopefully, no one was hurt below deck. She stood up on shaky legs and looked around. The ship didn't look too damaged, which was a good sign. She didn't see Bora; maybe he was thrown overboard. She went below deck and began to help the party guests.

When she arrived at the shore, Drake and Max were waiting. Apparently, Max flew off the ship before the wave crashed and went to find Drake.

"Pretty smart thinking there, Myles. I think you'll fit in just fine at Fairy Tail," he said with a grin. "Too bad I had to hear about your magic from Max instead of seeing it for myself."

"I don't know about that," Myles said, breathing heavily. Crashing that wave left her with almost no magic power and she was feeling its effects. "Bora might still be around. I didn't see him after the boat settled on the shore."

Drake sniffed the air for a few seconds. "I can smell him, so he's not too far off. You look like you're done for today, so I'll take care of it. Max can stay with you," he said as he walked off.

Not long after Drake left, she saw two figures emerge from some of the debris from the ship.

"That's her, sir. That's the bitch that did this to your boat," she heard Bora say.

"Oh really? You let a mere child get the better of you, Bora? How disgraceful," said the second man.

"Don't worry, Mr. Tucker. I'm going to finish her off right now."

She waited for Bora to approach. She doubted that she would be able to run for very long in her condition. Besides, it was her mission to capture this man. How would it look if she ran away now?

"I have to admit, you got me with that wave. I wasn't expecting anything like that. But no matter. You're going to die here and there's nothing you can do to stop me in your condition!" Bora said with malice in his voice. He had a view bruises, but looked generally unscathed.

"Just try it! I've got more than enough magic to kick your ass all over Hargeon!" Myles shouted defiantly.

Enraged, he outstretched his arms and shouted, "Prominence Whip!" Several beams of fire shot out of his magic circle and raced towards Myles.

_I've only got enough magic for one more alteration. If I attack from long range it will give him too much time to dodge. In that case…_ Myles didn't make any effort to dodge. When the jets of purple fire neared her, she used her magic to gather his fire around her fist, making sure to alter it enough so that it wouldn't hurt her. She raced toward Bora, intent on finishing their duel in one blow.

"Impossible! You can't manipulate my fire with your magic!" Bora shouted. He knew that she shouldn't be able to affect his magic with her Alteration. He was shocked and frozen in his place for a second, unable to accept her falsehood. He figured it must be some kind of trick.

In his hesitation, he allowed her to get within striking range. He tried to avoid it, knowing that blocking would be useless with the amount of magic around her fist, but it was too late. Her fist found its mark. His own magic exploded in his face, knocking him back through the hull of the boat and effectively keeping him down for the count.

"You shouldn't make assumptions about another person's magic."

_Good. I managed to defeat him with the rest of my magic. The only problem is…_ she thought as she turned to face his accomplice, who watched their battle from the sidelines, thankfully. _I can't believe that I forgot. The job request said that Bora was probably working with an accomplice. Hopefully, Drake heard us and is heading over here. If not, I'll have to send Max to go find him. I hope I can last that long against an opponent I know nothing about without any magic._

"I can see why Bora lost," said the man, Mr. Tucker according to Bora, as he approached. "He was out of his league."

"Thanks, I guess," Myles said, off-put by his strange compliment.

"I know him," Max said grimly. "He's Oliver Tucker of the Single Strike. He's a local gang leader involved in drugs and human trafficking. He uses a crude magic that focuses all of his energy into one blast."

"It seems that my reputation precedes me, though I'm not sure how I should take it from a talking cat," Oliver said smugly. "Sorry, but I don't really have time to sit around and chat. After all the damage you've caused, I'm going to have a lot of work to do." He raised his hand and directed it at Myles and Max. "Single Strike: Bolt." A huge blast of lightning erupted from his palm.

If only she had some magic; it would be child's play to alter a spell like this. There was no way they could avoid a blast like that, the explosion would be too wide.

_Made it just in time_, Drake thought as he shoved Myles and Max out of the beam's way, putting himself directly in the line of fire.

"Drake, wait!" Myles shouted, but she was too late. Drake was caught in the beam. His body would surely be incinerated by the dense magic energy in that blast. She turned her face and closed her eyes, feeling despair seize her heart. How was she going to tell the other members of Fairy Tail this? How would she even be able to face them?

"Oh, Yuck!"

Her head snapped forward and her eyes shot open. Drake stood there, exactly as he was, completely un-incinerated by the blast.

_But… How?_ Myles thought incredulously. Then she looked closer and her eyes widened at what she saw.

Drake was… eating the lightning?

Yes, she was sure that was what she was seeing. He was slurping up the last bits of lightning like noodles, after physically grabbing the lightning and taking bites out of it, like it was cotton candy or something.

"Lightning magic won't work on Drake," Max said in an eerie tone.

"It wasn't very tasty, but thanks anyway," Drake said after he finished his 'meal.'

"Ah, I see. So that's who I'm fighting," Oliver said, recognizing Drake's orange guild insignia on the inside of his right forearm. "A member of Fairy Tail's Triple Dragons, a team made up entirely of Dragon Slayers."

"I wouldn't really call this a fight," Drake said with a victorious, fanged grin. "Max said that you use all your magic in one attack, so you're done for," he said as he cracked his knuckles. Small flashes of lightning darted around his body.

Oliver let out a maniacal laugh. "You think I would waste all of my magic on brats like you?" He settled down after a few seconds. "Still… Maybe I should take this seriously. You don't look like the type of opponent I can beat with only one chance. After all, I'm up against someone that can kill dragons," he said as he pulled a gun from his robe. "I'm sure you realize that this is no ordinary gun. I can use this magic gun to space out my magic energy, allowing me to fire multiple blasts," he boasted.

"Bring it on," Drake said as he charged.

* * *

"Wow," Myles said as she watched Drake fight. "How does it work?"

Max watched his companion with more than a little pride. "He uses dragon lungs to breathe the lightning, dragon scales to dispel the lightning, and dragon claws to control the lightning. Dragon Slayer Magic is an ancient magic that allows the user to take on all the qualities of a dragon."

"Wow," she repeated in awe. "Did he really learn it from an actual dragon?"

"He learned from his foster-father Stormania, the Lightning Dragon."

"H-His father?" Myles asked, stunned by the revelation. Sure, she'd heard the rumors that they learned from dragons, but to find out that they were raised by them?

"Yep. Stormania found Drake when he was a kid and raised him, but one day he vanished, leaving Drake all alone. The same thing happened to Natsu's dad: Igneel the Fire Dragon."

_So Fairy Tail has two Dragon Slayers: Drake, the Lightning Dragon Slayer, and Natsu, the Fire Dragon Slayer, who were both raised and taught by dragons. Kind of a big standard to live up to,_ Myles thought._ According to that girl from school, there used to be another, but he left for some reason. I wonder why that is…_

"Man, that guy was weak," Drake said dejectedly as he returned victorious from his fight. "I didn't even break a sweat. And he got my hopes up after he said he could still fight," he pouted.

"Those guys look tough, Drake," Max said pointing to the henchmen that gathered to watch the fight. "I'm sure one of them would be willing to fight you."

"H-He beat Mr. Tucker like it was nothing…" stammered one of the henchmen.

"He's a monster that can eat magic."

"Run! He's coming this way!" warned another as he took off. The rest of the henchmen followed his example and began to run away.

"Aw come on, guys! I just want to beat the crap out of ya'!" Drake called out as he chased after them, desperate for more violence.

Myles looked at the unconscious Bora and Mr. Tucker. She was still on the ground from when Drake shoved her aside. "Well, I guess that completes our job. All we have to do now is turn them into the police."

"Aye!" Max said, mimicking his friend.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Please review.


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